“Molly, don’t, please, I’m really tired and I only just woke up and… ow!”

By the time I came out of the bathroom, the whole dorm was engaged in a full-scale pillow war.

*************************

Once everyone had run out of what little energy they had, we all laid on the floor, looking up at the dark ceiling.

“So,” said Lily, “who did everyone kiss at New Years?”

“Arthur Weasley,” said Molly, dreamily.

“Well, duh!” said Marlene.

“Frank,” said Alice.

“Well, duh!” said Marlene, “anyone who hasn’t got a long-term boyfriend want to answer that question?”

There was a long pause. “James,” said Lily slowly, tentatively, as though trying out the sound of his name in her mouth.

“Really?” I asked sitting up quickly, “Lily, that’s great!”

“I know, it was…” said Lily, trailing off.

“Well, everyone did see him spinning you round and round whooping for joy just after the countdown, so I think most people know that one too,” said Marlene.

“So? I just thought you would like to hear it first hand,” snapped Lily, annoyed that Marlene was taking her annoyance on Lily, when everyone knew I was the reason Marlene was angry. Not that Lily wanted Marlene to have a go at me, she just obviously didn’t like being chastised for no reason.

“Well, I will tell you first hand that I bagged the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team,” said Marlene, standing up and storming out.

“Apparently he wasn’t much good,” said Lily, trying to lighten the mood and ignore what everyone else knew.

“That’s not why she left,” said Molly quietly, trying feebly to defend her friend.

Molly hauled herself up from the floor, “Sorry, but I have to go. You know how Marlene is.” When no one nodded, she obviously felt she needed to explain further to us. “She’s really over-dramatic and stuff but hopefully she’ll get over it soon. She’s not used to not getting what she wants, especially when it comes to guys, and well, I think she actually quite likes him.”

“She doesn’t seem very interested,” I said, sticking up for myself. I wasn’t going to have Marlene make me look like some sort of boyfriend-stealing-bitch.

“I don’t know, I think she’s always had this kind of idea, that because they’re the two most-” Molly searched for a word that wouldn’t make her seem biased, “promiscuous people in the school, that they are meant for each other, I guess. She just thinks they fit. I don’t know.”

I didn’t want to show how much this got to me. Maybe that’s what everyone else thought- Sirius and Marlene were the obvious couple. Not me and Sirius. “Just go see her Molly,” I told her, and she scurried away. I stood up, telling myself that the obvious couples never really ended up together- only in films. In real life, it wasn’t just the most popular girl and the most popular guy- it was whoever you liked and liked you back.

Lily and Emmeline stood up too. “Uh, guys?” Emmeline said, talking with her back to us as she got clothes from her wardrobe with rather more deliberation then usual, “don’t you want to know who I kissed?”

Lily shrieked, and with no exaggeration, I think I can safely say that any dogs in a 100-mile vicinity would have cocked their fuzzy little ears and looked around. I could almost see smoke coming out of her ears, she was that excited.

Emmeline winced, but managed to smile despite her burst eardrums.

“REMUS! REMUS! REMUS!” Lily started to chime.

Emmeline grinned at her friend and sat down on the edge of her bed. “I’ve liked him for ages Lils, he’s so great.”

“I knew it!” Lily cried and jumped on her blonde companion, squeezing her so tightly I was almost afraid for Em.

“Lily,” I said, trying to get her attention, “you know there’s this thing we humans need to survive- oxygen, it’s called- and it’s the air.” She didn’t listen. “We breathe it in, through our lungs.” Lily still didn’t let go. “Let her breathe!”

Lily let go, still grinning, “sorry, Em.”

“It’s ok.”

“You make a really cute couple,” I said to show Emmeline my support.

Emmeline blushed, “Thanks. So do you and Sirius.”

I smiled at her and we were all silent for a minute, contemplating our newfound romances.

Lily broke the silence, “and we all know me and James look goorrgeous together.”

Emmeline chuckled.

I gasped in mock amazement, “Lil?” I paused for effect, “I think his ego’s rubbing off on you.”

“Shut it,” said Lily, the smile still stuck to her face.

*******************************************

“Do you lovely ladies fancy joining us for a spot of brunch?” James called over as Lily, Emmeline and me entered the Great Hall.

From the other end of the table, Marlene glared at us, well I say us, but I’m pretty sure she didn’t feel as though Emmeline or Lily had stolen her soul mate.

I sat down in between Lily and Emmeline and started spreading some Honeyduke’s honey onto my toast.

“How was everyone’s night then?” James asked, as he wound his arm around Lily’s waist. For a second, she looked like she was going to push it away, but then she moved closer to him on the bench, tucking herself into the crook of his arm. James looked like he might explode, but he managed to keep his cool and look around expectantly for someone to answer his question.

Everyone just nodded and continued with their food, you’d think we had all been starved for weeks the way everyone was going. I practically poured the hot coffee down my throat, because I didn’t want anyone else nabbing it from me, drinking it so fast that I burnt myself in the process.

Soon, once everyone had stopped eating, we were among the last left in the Great Hall and I looked around surprised. It was only then that I noticed Sirius shooting nervous glances at me every now and then.

“I’m going to go for a walk,” said Emmeline standing up, and Remus stood to follow her.

She blushed and he blushed and asked, “Is it alright if I join you?”

Emmeline nodded, grinning at him, and they walked out of the hall together. Just as they reached the entrance hall, Remus weaved his fingers into hers.

Peter, who wasn’t quite as slow as he first appeared stared after them, looking confused. “When did they, um, happen?” he asked.

There was silence between Sirius, Peter, and me as we tried to ignore James and Lily, who seemed to have gone into their own little world and were whispering and giggling conspiratorially to each other.

“I’m going to go to the library and get some reading done,” I said after what seemed like a century of silence.

I felt Sirius’s eyes burning into my back as I walked away and felt slightly bad for leaving him there with only Peter to talk to. I mentally shrugged this idea away, he and Peter had been friends for ages and I’m sure they’d spent time alone together before now.

I walked down to the library and then pulled a book out of my bag and settled down in one of the comfier chairs to read it. The title was ‘Quidditch Through The Ages’ and I’d got it for Christmas from my aunt. It was quite an interesting book and I was soon engrossed.

“Ahem,” I was jolted away from the pages by one of those fake coughs everyone does when they want to get your attention. I looked around to see Sirius standing in front of me, looking nervous.

“Hey, Sirius,” I said smiling at him, and gestured for him to sit down in the chair nearest to me.

“Hi, um, I was wondering how you are,” he said. Settling himself down in the chair.

“I’m good, thanks,” I said, unsure where this conversation was headed, “you?”

“Yes, I’m good, thanks,” he said, “Would you like to come with me to Hogsmeade next weekend?”

“Yeah, yes, of course I would,” I nodded happily, and he seemed relaxed by my positive answer.

“I, I thought you didn’t like me,” he admitted.

This shocked me, hadn’t I kissed him just last night? “Why? Last night we-“ I faded out at the end of this sentence, feeling my cheeks turn red.

“You ran away from me,” he said, I looked at him, he seemed so relived that I had said yes, and I realised he had been worrying about it all morning.

“Oh, no, no, I didn’t, well I did, but not away from you!” I said quickly.

He smiled and his whole body seemed to relax as he let go of the pent-up tension he had been feeling.

We sat silently for a few minutes and I glanced back down at my page nervously. From the corner of my eye I could see various 3rd and 4th years, staring enviously over at us. The news of mine and Sirius’ relationship had travelled fast.

“Whatcha reading?” he asked conversationally, seemingly unaware of the awkwardness I was feeling.

“ ‘Quidditch Through The Ages’,” I told him.

“Oh, I’ve been wanting to read that for a while. Can I borrow it?”

“Yeah, yeah sure. Once I’ve finished reading it I’ll hand it straight over to you,” I smiled.

“Sounds good, is it interesting?” He asked.

I shrugged, “If you like Quiditch, which you do,” I added, feeling stupid. After all, he was clearly into Quiditch, why else would he be on the team? In an attempt to change the subject I blurted out the first thing I could think of. “So, is James as ecstatic as Lily about this?”

“Obviously! He’s been trying to get her to give in for, like, 4 years!”

I blushed; I seemed to be doing well at discussing the obvious right now.

We carried on like that for some time, talking about little things, like friends and the weather and Quidditch. I couldn’t help blushing every time our eyes met, and after a while, Sirius put his hand on my cheek and smiled warmly at me.

“You’re really beautiful, you know,” he whispered.

I blushed and shook my head slightly, giggling nervously.

“I mean it, “ he said, moving his hand away.

And then his lips touched my skin where his hand had been a moment ago. The kiss was so fleeting that I hardly had time to register it had happened before he had stood up and was offering me his hand. I took it gratefully and walked away with him, the tingling on my cheek telling me that I had not imagined his soft lips.

******************************************

Author’s Note:

I am so so so so so unbelievably sorry about the time it has taken me to get this up! I know it’s not much good but I just needed to put something up and help myself get back into the characters and whatnot.

I now have a beta (libby103 on the forums) who is amazing and has beta-ed this chapter and will be going through all the earlier chapters whenever we have time.

Oh and by the way, I now have a meet the author site! Please please please go on it and ask me something about something because it’ll make me very happy. :D

Please Review! Thanks for reading and waiting for me.

Lily ^_^ xx

Ps- do you know what Brunch is? It might just be an English thing, I don’t know.